A HIGH-flying woman barrister who accused a married lawyer of sexism after he complimented her on her online photo yesterday denied she was a man-hater.

Charlotte Proudman, 27, said: “Of course I’m not a manhating feminazi. That is an incredibly insulting thing to say and just another mechanism to silence women.”

She also refused to accept an apology from eminent solicitor Alexander Carter-Silk, 57.

Miss Proudman claimed she had spoken out for all women when she denounced him.

Mr Carter-Silk had sent her a message complimenting her on her “stunning” photograph on the professional networking site Linkedin Mr Carter-Silk, whose eldest daughter is the same age as Miss Proudman, also sent a message which said she should “win a prize” for her picture which he called the “best I have ever seen” on the site.

But an incensed Miss Proudman then named and shamed him on Twitter, describing his message as “sexist” and “misogynistic”.

Despite her actions inviting a number of internet troll attacks, Miss Proudman said yesterday she had a thick skin and had no regrets.

She said she had felt compelled to “out” Mr Carter-Silk because he was a senior figure in the profession and had a duty to uphold laws against sexual discrimination.

“And that is not me saying it, it is from a report from the Bar Council.”

There is no acknowledgement that the message he sent was inappropriate or sexist

Charlotte Proudman

She said Mr Carter-Silk, who has represented supermodel Elle Macpherson, had only apologised for any offence she might have taken rather than accepting he had been wrong.

So she was not accepting the apology and added: “There is no acknowledgement that the message he sent was inappropriate or sexist.”

Miss Proudman’s actions sparked a fierce debate.

Some described her actions as an “awful” way to react to a simple compliment.

But the human rights lawyer, who is currently studying for a doctorate at Cambridge, admitted that she now feared she could be left facing “the prospect of career suicide”.

However, she pointed out that it was unfortunate that women faced the prospect of discrimination when highlighting sexism.

She also said that Linkedin was a professional not a dating site.

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Married Mr Carter-Silk has apologised for causing offence

It emerged yesterday that Mr Carter-Silk had once posted on Facebook next to a picture of his daughter working out in a gym: “Whilst I should not encourage lascivious comments about my daughter…Yeee gods she is hot!!”

But friends defended him, implying he was clumsy rather than sexist.

A former colleague said: “He’s not a sexist pig. He just doesn’t have a filter on his mouth.”

Last night, a spokesman for Mr Carter-Silk said he had made a “prompt and sincere personal apology”.

And he wrote on an online message board: “My comment was aimed at the professional quality of the presentation on Linkedin which was unfortunately misinterpreted.”

A spokesperson for his London-based law firm Brown Rudnick, said: “Both Mr CarterSilk and the firm have promptly and sincerely apologised.

“We have also assured Ms Proudman that we are committed to gender equality and do not condone any words or actions that depart from that principle.”